Breathe
by MilWifey
Summary: When the unthinkable happens the tribe must come together in support of one of their own. Lives are forever changed in a heartbeat and friendship and loyalty takes on a whole new meaning.


Disclaimer: I do not own Army Wives. This is a complete work of fiction.

This story is set in an alternate timeline to Army Wives. The 23rd is deployed to Afghanistan. Frank and Jeremy are at the same camp. Jeremy is married to Tonya before they deployed and she is not downrange. Denise had baby Molly two months before the story starts.

**CHAPTER ONE**

I-26 CHARLESTON

In a moment everything can a change. Lives are thrown off their trajectory and normal is turned upside down. As Army wives they were used to life being tossed around and forging new normal. But none of them would have ever imagined how their lives would change in a heartbeat. In a heartbeat everything that was normal became abnormal. Easy became hard. In a heartbeat lives changed.

Pamela glanced up as the thump thump thump of the medivac started to descend. Boone pulled her back to reality. "Let's go." They headed toward the helo past the swarm of emergency responders and the fire fighters cutting into the over turned SUV.

They were heading back to station when the semi-truck carrying a full load of rebar blew its tire and over turned. Cars went everywhere on the interstate trying to dodge the flying debris. When all was done in the fraction of a second it took for the massive pile-up to happen 13 cars had either collided with each other our the guard rail.

Climbing out of the squad car they stematically made their way forward checking each car. A few minor scrapes and bruises so far. There were quiet a few very lucky people on the road today. They slowed to a stop starring at the overturned lorry and SUV at the front of the crash. She heard Boone curse beside her. The SUV was on its roof wheels still spinning uselessly. It lay at an angle with the drivers side crushed under the semi. The passenger side seemed to have faired much better and was outside the semi. When they inched closer examining the drivers side they could see a rebar pipe sticking out what was left of the drivers side front window.

"Careful Moran." Boone warned as she started to climb under the truck trying to get a view in the crushed car.

What she saw would haunt her for a long time.

MERCER

The emergency room was alive with activity. Like a well oiled machine the trauma kicked into gear as preparations were made for the life flight that would be arriving any minute.

Tonya Sherwood noticed the activity as she was wrapping up her shift. The emergency room had been extra busy today. A sudden storm had blown in and with it came its share of fender benders. Luckily most of the injuries had been minor but it seemed like that luck had changed.

Tonya grabbed a tech as she was rushing past. "Hey. I'm about to leave but do you need me to stick around?" The tech gave her a strange look.

"Tonya. Captain Cody was looking for you." She pointed to the back of the main trauma bay.

"What's going on?"

"Major MVA. SUV versus semi-truck. All I know is the passengers were stuck for hours. I've gotta run and get more blood."

"Um, thanks." She trotted over to the head Nurse."

The room seemed to stop as she came in. Captain Cody smiled at her briefly. "Tonya," she grabbed her arm and started walking towards the waiting room doors. "Mrs. Sherwood is being airlifted in. I'm not going to lie to you Tonya. It's serious. There's massive head trauma and physical trauma."

Tonya felt the blood drain from her and reached out to steady herself on the wall. She could feel her legs become unsteady.

Just then the doors leading from the helipad opened and the room burst into action. Capt. Cody stepped in front of her blocking her view. "You are going to have to wait in the waiting room. I'll let you know what we can." With a gently shove she was being pushed through the waiting room doors. Only then did she catch a glimpse of Denise.

Everyone in the waiting room jumped as the doors crashed open and Tonya stumbled out and promptly sunk to the ground. Roland handed Molly off to Roxy as he rushed over to her.

"Let's get her up Roland." Tonya looked up into the eyes of her friend and Colonel Burton.

Suddenly she was struggling to her feet. "Ma'am." She waived her off and helped her sit down. Suddenly she became aware of Molly crying in Roxy's arms.

"Oh God baby girl." She hugged her niece close which seemed to calm them both down. Tonya looked at the group a puzzled look on her face. Then it struck her. Denise and Claudia Joy were visiting the parents of a killed service member. He was only 17 and they needed to be there for the family. "Is ..." She trailed off.

"She's fine. Broken arm. She came in a couple hours ago. Emmaline took her home to rest. No doubt they will be back soon."

"Yes Ma'am." The room was quiet at that no doubt mulling the implications that it took almost three hours to extract Denise from the car.

"Well," Roland said. "It's going to be while before we hear anything. I'm going to the cafeteria." He looked at Tonya and grabbed Molly's diaper bag. "Come on. Let's walk."

She nodded numbly and let him lead her away oblivious to the looks shared by the rest of the tribe. What could make an experienced combat medic look so haunted.

AFGHANISTAN

General Holden wearily rubbed his face. He felt old today. He glanced at the people in the room. Frank and Jeremy were talking quietly with one of the field trauma doctors. Frank seemed like a snake coiled to strike. Jeremy sat quietly wide eyed only acknowledging Sgt. LeBlanc. Even then he seemed in shock. The only report he'd received was that his wife and Denise had been in a major accident. His wife was extracted quickly and was already home. She would be sore for awhile but her only real injuries were bruised ribs and a broken arm. Denise was another story and it had take several hours to extract her. The report was vague on her status and condition. Last they had heard was that she was in surgery and they were waiting for a live feed with her medical team.  
Just then the screen on the wall crackled to life showing a conference room at Mercer. Colonel Burton, Specialist Sherwood, Lt. Colonel Craigon one of Mercer's top nurologists, Colonel Atwater Mercer's lead trauma doctor, a few doctors he didn't recognize and there at the back of the room was his wife. She had a haunted look in her eyes but generally seemed okay. She shifted and he could tell she was sore. They would Skype privately in a little while.

"Before we begin General," Joan said. "Orders have been approved for emergency leave."

"Thank you Colonel. We are working logistics on this end." He shifted his attention to the doctors nodding at them to begin.

"Thank you General. Colonel Sherwood. Specialist Sherwood. Denise made it through the first of many surgeries with flying colors. She is in critical condition but she is strong and holding on." Frank breathed a sigh of relief beside him.

"Denise was brought in via medivac last night. She was pinned to her seat by rebar after a collision with a semi truck. She lost a lot of blood at the scene and we've done a transfusion but we may need to do more. We had two main concerns, first she has massive head trauma. We stopped the bleeding and placed a shunt to help control fluid. We will repair her skull once she's stable and swelling is not a concern anymore. Our second concern was removing the rebar." The doctor pointed to a mannequin on the table in front of him. "The bar penetrated her chest right here. Too much time had passed and we had to remove her lung. The good news is that her remaining lung is intact. Your wife is very fortunate that the bar missed all other organs and her spinal column. The evac team had to work slowly as to not do anymore damage. Her legs were fractured in multiple spots. Once swelling reduces and she stabilizes more we can work on repairing these injuries. I know it's a lot to take in but your wife is strong Colonel."

They'd all seen head trauma and how it affected many soldiers so Dr. Craigon didn't beat around the bush. "Denise's head trauma is the most severe injury we are dealing with. Head trauma is hard to judge Colonel Sherwood. Right now she is in a medically induced coma while her body heals. The next 48 hours are critical. We get through this and then we can start to try to wake her."

"Will she..." Frank cleared his throat. "Will..."

"Her brain took a lot of trauma. If she wakes up with the amount of damage to her brain, she will have a long road of her. How much functioning she will have we will assess as we come to it. Do you have any questions?"

"I... ". Frank struggled against the tears in his eyes.

Jeremy broke in. He'd been quiet until then. "Mrs. Holden?"

Claudia looked up and Michael could see the shame in her eyes. "Yes Jeremy?"

"I don't want mom to be alone. Promise me she won't be?"

She locked eyes with him. "I promise."

TBC


End file.
